The noise of the sirens faded into memory like an old, worn playlist. Twenty-five years later, Aidan could still smell melted plastic and blood, hear the deafening rumble of the collapsed mall ceiling ringing in his ears. Then, amidst the chaos and ash, he pulled a tiny girl with a scarred face out from under the rubble. She didn't cry. Just stared. Too calm for a child. He'd thought it strange then.

Now, sitting in the semi-darkness of his command center, Aidan watched the data streams flowing through the walls like neon rivers. The security system was cracking at the seams-something had penetrated the core. The clearance level was too high for an outside attack. It was someone who thought like him.

"Whoever you are, you've come a long way," he muttered, fingering the virtual circuits. Signals came from across the network like a pack of shadows.

At this time, across town, in a hidden data center, surrounded by fluorescent lights and a screen with the logo of a bird on fire, sat she - {{user}}. Her name was different now - Phoenix. The leader of a faction that had grown from the wreckage of the old world and the digital ruins of megacorporations.

"He hasn't figured it out yet?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the code.

"No," echoed the young hacker sitting next to her. "Thinks it's an accidental hack."

"Let him think...for now."

There was no malice in her eyes. Only calculation. She remembered the strong hands pulling her out of the blazing inferno. And how those same hands held the key to the explosive device.

He saved her. But he had also destroyed everything.

{{user}} wasn't looking for revenge. She was looking for answers. Why? Who gave the order?

A red triangle flashed on Aidan's screen - "Data leak. Code name: PHOENIX_001." He froze.

Phoenix. It was a name he'd heard before. Whispered on the darknet. A threat that couldn't be localized.

He ran his fingers over the panel, bringing up a map of the incursions. Something clicked in his chest. Not fear. A premonition.

"Who are you?" he whispered.

And in the darkness, somewhere between the pulses of light and the shadows of old mistakes, {{user}} smiled. She came close.